Believe it or not, when I’m not busy taking pictures of other people’s drift cars, other people drifting or fixing my own drift car I actually like to try my hand at some skidding myself! Last week I headed down to one of Santa Pod’s infamous Drift What You Brung days to give my S13 it’s first proper blast since dropping the SR20 into it. Alex Law rode shotgun for the day to give me some much needed pointers throughout the day and to also help keep me awake on the long drive there and back.

After leaving a trail of ruined cats eyes in my wake on the M6 on the journey down we eventually arrived at Santa Pod shortly before the driver briefing and quickly cracked on with the day at hand.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take as many pictures of other people’s cars as I’d have liked to as the day was filled with non-stop drifting, save for the brief lunch break (which was my only chance to run round the pits and take a few snaps).

As you’ve probably gathered from some of my previous posts, I’m a big fan of Type-X 180SXs and this example did nothing to stop my jealousy towards their owners. I noticed that the driver of this particular car had removed the hideously expensive and hard to source front bumper and replaced it with a much cheaper and more easily available “shark nose” item, presumably just in case the worst was to happen while enjoying a day of skidding.

Andy from work was also joining in with the day’s activities with his 400bhp R32, fresh out of the workshop having had uprated injectors and the fuel pump to suit fitted. He also did me a massive favour and brought all of my tyres down for me in the Japspeed van – legend!

Another nice R32 that was in attendance was this particular example, although it was definitely a case of “what lies beneath” when it came to what makes it much more interesting than most R32s. Having started life as a GTR model sporting an RB26DETT, it is now RWD and sporting an RB20DET (the engine originally found in GTS-T R32s). If I remember correctly the current RB20 is the car’s third engine.

Parked up nearby were this pair of bright orange S13s, although the UK 200SX seemed to have had a tougher past than the PS13 Silvia judging by the battle scars.

While it may not have been taken out on track at any point, this R32 stopped me in my tracks as I was walking through the pits. Everything is just so on point and each modification compliments the others, with the Rocket Bunny spoiler being the perfect match for the overfenders and the rear spats suiting the diffuser down to the ground. Despite all of this though, it still wasn’t the coolest car in attendance. That award goes to…

…this. Ladies and gentleman, please take a moment to observe the coolest drift car I have ever seen.

When was the last time you saw a Rover sideways!?

The Rover V8 rumble was definitely a welcome addition to the day’s soundtrack of SR20s, RBs and BMW straight sixes being put through their paces.

Thankfully for myself the day went without any major hitches and I was able to drive my trusty S13 140 miles home back to Manchester – quite a relief considering how many things could have gone wrong and taking into account some of my previous experiences at drift days!